Positron emission tomography (PET) has become standard practice in many clinical applications including oncology, cardiology and neurology. Recent developments in PET scanners have pushed the limits of these applications, thanks to long axial field of view scanners which can improve system sensitivity and the use of time-of-flight (TOF) information which can improve spatial resolution. However, the cost and space requirements for total-body PET systems has created a need for flexible, low-cost yet high-sensitivity systems with large axial field of view. Additionally, currently achievable TOF resolutions (around 200 ps for current clinical scanners) limit the gains in image resolution. In this work, we present the first reconstructions for a flexible two-panel ultra-high TOF resolution PET system expected to achieve 75 ps full-width at half maximum (FWHM). The scanner relies on pixelated L(Y)SO scintillators with novel detectors with dual readout measuring depth-of-interaction (DOI) information. The performance of the new system is demonstrated on Monte-Carlo simulations of an anthropomorphological numerical phantom reconstructed using a newly developed TOF+DOI-enabled reconstruction engine. The presented reconstructions exhibit high image quality, demonstrating the promise of the proposed PET system.
Simulation results for limited-angle ultra-high time-of-flight resolution PET system
Gola, A.;Merzi, S.;Penna, M.;Seljak, A.;
2023-01-01
Abstract
Positron emission tomography (PET) has become standard practice in many clinical applications including oncology, cardiology and neurology. Recent developments in PET scanners have pushed the limits of these applications, thanks to long axial field of view scanners which can improve system sensitivity and the use of time-of-flight (TOF) information which can improve spatial resolution. However, the cost and space requirements for total-body PET systems has created a need for flexible, low-cost yet high-sensitivity systems with large axial field of view. Additionally, currently achievable TOF resolutions (around 200 ps for current clinical scanners) limit the gains in image resolution. In this work, we present the first reconstructions for a flexible two-panel ultra-high TOF resolution PET system expected to achieve 75 ps full-width at half maximum (FWHM). The scanner relies on pixelated L(Y)SO scintillators with novel detectors with dual readout measuring depth-of-interaction (DOI) information. The performance of the new system is demonstrated on Monte-Carlo simulations of an anthropomorphological numerical phantom reconstructed using a newly developed TOF+DOI-enabled reconstruction engine. The presented reconstructions exhibit high image quality, demonstrating the promise of the proposed PET system.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
